Species At Risk

The Japanese fishermen are indiscriminate. They kill any species that approaches the coast. The 2014-2015 season quota is as follows:

134 Pacific white-sided dolphins

450 Striped dolphins

509 Bottlenose dolphins

400 Pantropical spotted dolphins

261 Risso's dolphins

114 Short-Finned pilot whales

70 False Killer whales.

Japan Illegally Kills Small Whales

Japan is a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In 1986, the IWC's moratorium on the killing of whales went into effect. Under the terms of the IWC, Japan is permitted to kill a limited number of whales under the "scientific research" exception. This "scientific research" exception is, in reality, simply a loophole which Japan exploits in order to kill whales for commercial consumption, but Japan is not permitted to kill any other whales protected by the IWC.

Observers have seen the fishermen at Taiji slaughtering entire pods of small pilot whales. That is a wholesale violation of the provisions of the International Whaling Commission and is plainly illegal. It is simply ignored by the Japanese government.